References to next iPhone, iOS 7 popping up in server logs

Cupertino is already testing apps on what appears to be next-gen hardware.

Developers are already seeing evidence that apps are being tested on a next-generation iPhone running the next major revision of iOS, just months after the release of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. That Apple is developing and testing updates to its iPhone hardware and software is no surprise, but the timing suggests that the updates may come earlier than expected.

According to developers who spoke to The Next Web, references to an "iPhone6,1" running iOS 7 have appeared in usage logs for their apps. The current iPhone 5 has model identifiers "iPhone5,1" or "iPhone5,2" depending on which frequencies the LTE radio works. An "iPhone6,1" device would be a major revision to the iPhone hardware according to Apple's model-identifier scheme. These device and OS identifiers were linked to IP addresses in Apple's assigned IP block.

These early references to new hardware and software aren't uncommon—Ars spotted similar references to Retina-like devices running iOS 6 just a week before Apple announced the iPad 3, for instance. But the fact that Apple is already testing apps on new hardware and software indicates that Apple may be readying the next iPhone for sale earlier than the fall time frame in which it launched the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S before it.

Though we saw our first references to iOS 6 in Web analytics logs in March 2012—three months before Apple gave developers the first access to iOS 6 betas at its Worldwide Developers Conference—9to5Mac reported that developers started seeing iOS 6 in usage logs in May 2012—just a month before its public unveiling. It seems possible that Apple could show iOS 7 to the public in or around February, with a new iPhone coming in June. That would track with earlier iPhone device launches, which until 2011 happened during the northern hemisphere summer.

At least one analyst—Topeka Capital Markets' Brian White—is predicting that Apple will release a new model in May or June. This is in line with speculation that Apple may be accelerating the pace of product development in order to better compete with competitors that release multiple new devices per year. It is believed that the quick update from iPad 3 to iPad 4 is the first visible sign of this acceleration.

Sooo... What you're saying is the leader in Mobile devices.. is building another mobile device.

Riveting. I thought Apple would stay iPhone 5 and iOS 6 forever.

No what Ars is saying is that the leader in Mobile devices may be accelerating the development of their mobile devices and releasing something sooner than expected and that seeing these devices in web logs is very minimal but noticable evidence to that hypothesis.

Windows Phone is the halfway point between iPhone and Android. You can get limited filesystem access, but if you're looking for a completely open and customizable system, you go Android. Personally, I'm happy with Windows Phone.

Windows Phone is the halfway point between iPhone and Android. You can get limited filesystem access, but if you're looking for a completely open and customizable system, you go Android. Personally, I'm happy with Windows Phone.

Yes Windows Phone is that happy medium of normalcy between the hippy (Android) and the zealot (Apple).

Edit: I'm not being snarky; that's my observation after using both Android and Apple, and reading an in-depth article (Anandtech) on Windows Phone when it first came out.

An "iPhone6,1" device would be a major revision to the iPhone hardware according to Apple's model-identifier scheme.

--Depends on what you consider major.iPhone 4S was iPhone4,1 and iPhone 4 was iPhone3,1. iPhone6,1 could be a 5S, which may or may not be considered a major revision.

The 4S was a major revision, having a dramatically more powerful GPU and 2 CPU cores compared to the 4, so by extension a 5S should be considered a major revision if they change is similar.

In other words if we go from 2 cores to 4 cores and double the GPU performance then yes the iPhone 5S is a major revision. If we only bump the clock by 20% and call it a day then no it isn't a major revision.

The shift from annual to semi-annual iPhone and iPad releases is actually pretty significant news, as it is one path to additional growth for Apple in the maturing Smartphone market.

When the iPhone was originally released, there were no competitors, so it was reasonable to expect customers to wait a year for performance enhancements and form factor "upgrades."

In the current market, however, the Android-based competition is steep, and new models and innovative models appear on a monthly basis, making it difficult for Apple to retain customers who are not part of the core Apple fan base.

When the iPad 4 was released, some speculated that it was only released as a result of the Lightning connector change, but others asserted that Apple was reducing its release cycle. If the current iPad mini and iPhone 6 rumors are true, this would be a MAJOR shift in Apple strategy, which I for one am exited to be the beneficiary.

Anybody who actually follows Apple closely knows that it takes ~2 years to develop the next generation iPhone. They began work on the iPhone 6 around the time the iPhone 4S began shipping.

And the same is true for iOS. 6.0 would have been "feature frozen" months before it was first announced, and work on 7.0 begins the day they decide to stop adding new features to 6.0.

An article about how their product development cycle works would be interesting. But posting a few version numbers found in server logs, *every single year*, is not a good news story. On other mac news sites I simply ignored this particular story, but at Ars I'm used to better.

It's good someone is checking logs for new products, but at least wait until something out of the ordinary happens before posting it to every single tech news website in the world.

Breaking a yearly cycle is a horrible idea. Almost nobody can afford to break a two-year contract cycle on a regular basis, and with Apple's tendency to make slightly older hardware obsoleted two cycles in..

Once a year made it easier to work on major changes. I wonder what the impact to focusing on a shorter release cycle will be. Unless they have one team working on minor changes (like an iPhone 5S as someone suggested earlier) and another on more significant changes. Not to mention that if they want to keep interest up, they could release major new features in a new iOS version without having to release new hardware. Once a year hardware, twice a year iOS would be much more interesting to me.

It seems to me that they are moving a bit too fast on this. I mean the fever from the last release has only evened out not too terribly long ago. It feels like a overt money grab imo. Its not like the hardware is that particularly dated and the Apple is already rolling in cash, so just what would such a quick revision of the hardware really benefit?

Sooo... What you're saying is the leader in Mobile devices.. is building another mobile device.

Riveting. I thought Apple would stay iPhone 5 and iOS 6 forever.

Just being pedantic, but Android has a higher market share and Samsung is the hardware leader when it comes to phones. Apple is a major player, but not technically the market leader.

Ars might mean "leader" in terms of which player "leads," which means to step out front and make a concrete impact on the industry. As in iPod, iPhone, iPad, Retina, current dominant usage shares when measured by both mobile web usage share and share of revenue from app sales.

"Leader" doesn't necessarily mean how many hands are raised when the teacher calls attendance. If we evaluated national importance by percentage of the total world population, China would clearly be the leader and the US share percentage would be called insignificant.

An "iPhone6,1" device would be a major revision to the iPhone hardware according to Apple's model-identifier scheme.

--Depends on what you consider major.iPhone 4S was iPhone4,1 and iPhone 4 was iPhone3,1. iPhone6,1 could be a 5S, which may or may not be considered a major revision.

The 4S was a major revision, having a dramatically more powerful GPU and 2 CPU cores compared to the 4, so by extension a 5S should be considered a major revision if they change is similar.

In other words if we go from 2 cores to 4 cores and double the GPU performance then yes the iPhone 5S is a major revision. If we only bump the clock by 20% and call it a day then no it isn't a major revision.

I find the perception of the 'S' revisions as minor to be one of the most ironic things on the Internet.

People are always criticizing Apple for valuing form over function, but when they push out a hardware revision that eschews aesthetic redesigns for doubling performance in almost every regard, (even the freaking camera), they still manage to piss on Apple essentially for not putting it in a redesigned case.

Sooo... What you're saying is the leader in Mobile devices.. is building another mobile device.

Riveting. I thought Apple would stay iPhone 5 and iOS 6 forever.

Just being pedantic, but Android has a higher market share and Samsung is the hardware leader when it comes to phones. Apple is a major player, but not technically the market leader.

Being even more pedantic, but Android isn't a smartphone vendor. Being #2 behind Samsung still makes Apple the leader if Mobile devices included iPads and iPods, or if you count profit share or revenue share.

Breaking a yearly cycle is a horrible idea. Almost nobody can afford to break a two-year contract cycle on a regular basis, and with Apple's tendency to make slightly older hardware obsoleted two cycles in..

I think this is going to seriously hurt Apple if it's true.

Only zealots who must buy every new iPhone would even worry about that. Customers are coming off contract every single day and why would they look at a 6 month old iPhone when the latest and shiniest devices are sitting there begging for their attention?

Apple would be hurt no more by going to a 2 model a year plan than Samsung is by releasing its flagship device at the top of the year and releasing models to fit other brackets as the year goes on. In fact, it would allow Apple some breathing room to design something other than a 'canonical' iPhone. In the fall they develop the 'canonical' iPhone: small(er), light(er), sleek(er) and that's what some people buy. In the spring they develop the iPhone Note: the big phone for those people who just want a big phone.

Multiple releases in the year don't have to trump/replace each other and its the only way that Apple is going to keep up with the pace of progression that the other handset manufacturers are setting.

Sooo... What you're saying is the leader in Mobile devices.. is building another mobile device.

Riveting. I thought Apple would stay iPhone 5 and iOS 6 forever.

Just being pedantic, but Android has a higher market share and Samsung is the hardware leader when it comes to phones. Apple is a major player, but not technically the market leader.

Ars might mean "leader" in terms of which player "leads," which means to step out front and make a concrete impact on the industry. As in iPod, iPhone, iPad, Retina, current dominant usage shares when measured by both mobile web usage share and share of revenue from app sales.

"Leader" doesn't necessarily mean how many hands are raised when the teacher calls attendance. If we evaluated national importance by percentage of the total world population, China would clearly be the leader and the US share percentage would be called insignificant.

In that regard, I'd contend they still aren't a leader and haven't been for years.

The initial iPhone release was a convergence of great ideas with the right technology at the right time, even if other companies were creating similar products at the same time. Apple did the most to capitalize however on technology converging to make the iPhone possible.

But in the years since, Android hasn't merely caught up, but really has surpassed it in features and innovation. iOS 5 and iOS 6 were comprised almost completely of features that existed for at least a year prior on other platforms.

In what regard are they the leader, other than in perception? Passionate fans with brand loyalty are important, don't get me wrong. People don't foam at the mouth for Samsung or HTC news, even if they end up buying a Samsung product over an Apple one at the end of the day. But I'm not sure the reality of what Apple is bringing to the table today justifies the coverage and fan fervor.

Sooo... What you're saying is the leader in Mobile devices.. is building another mobile device.

Riveting. I thought Apple would stay iPhone 5 and iOS 6 forever.

Just being pedantic, but Android has a higher market share and Samsung is the hardware leader when it comes to phones. Apple is a major player, but not technically the market leader.

Being even more pedantic, but Android isn't a smartphone vendor. Being #2 behind Samsung still makes Apple the leader if Mobile devices included iPads and iPods, or if you count profit share or revenue share.

I seriously hope iOS 7 will have a major overhaul. I'm almost done with stale icons (half a decade old, no changes)

I completely agree. Apple should change ALL of the icons for their built-in apps. Not because they currently suck, but just because I want something new to look at.

"It looks stale" has to be the worst possible reason in the world to overhaul a user interface. Arbitrarily changing all the icons risks alienating and confusing longtime users for practically no benefit. I can understand gently tweaking the appearance of things as the OS evolves, but sweeping change just because you're bored isn't anything Apple ever has done or should ever do.